Nearly April March 28, 2009

The mail brought no news with it today, but I do have some updates.

I went to visit Greensboro last weekend and had a great time.  I attended a reading with graduating students and then went to a party afterward. It was a late night, and a student let me crash at her place instead of driving back or getting a hotel. All around, I had a blast. I felt like I fit in. The students were just as nice in person as they were in email (I had communicated with 5 before going up there.) And the program community is bigger than it seems because alumni stick around and a lot of other people in the English department take interest in the MFA students. In my heart, it’s where I should be. Everyone I met was interesting, fun, and kind. I drove back on Saturday elated, and have spent the past week emailing back-and-forth with other potential first years. I’ve almost become an unofficial recruiter for the 09 incoming class. Maybe it’s paying off, becaues Jim (the director) told me he thinks he found me a first-year job in the college of arts & sciences with enough funding to cover most of tuition  and then some ($10K stipend). Everything is pushing me in the direction of Greensboro, and I’m not fighting it, except that I feel like I should have all my choices on the table before accepting their offer. I don’t know if this is good business instinct or what. Maybe I should just go ahead and jump in.

I’m still waiting to hear about funding from Texas State. I really don’t know what to think about this program now. They seemed so good on paper, but the communication and information flow from them has been staggered and slow. It took me finding out that I was accepted (online) to hear from anyone personally (I contacted their MFA coordinator just to be sure). I’ve asked questions and gotten vague answers from the coordinator. I had to put my foot down last week to finally get her to give me more than 1 student contact, and even then, I have just 3, and only 1 has replied with answers to my questions. I also had to ask twice to get alumni publishing success/history/information. (Her first reply was “I don’t have that on my computer.”) I still haven’t heard from the director or any faculty yet. I don’t like this uphill battle with them, and I probably won’t take their offer, but I feel like I should at least hear what the entire offer is before ruling them out.  Jim says they have a lot of money down there. I wonder if he’s eager to know what they give me just for the sake of bartering, although I don’t know if it could get me any more money at UNCG.
I also haven’t heard A PEEP from Alabama or ASU. I’ve emailed them both, politely asking for status updates since I have other offers to consider, and neither have replied. My online status with them hasn’t changed, although I check it daily.  I’m guessing I’m either rejected at those places and they’re taking their time notifying, or I’m on some sort of blind waitlist and they don’t want to get my hopes up by telling me so.

No word from Arkansas since I got their waitlist letter, either. I wrote back to thank them, though.

So, I’m just truckin’ along, waiting to have all my answers. It’s nearly April, and the showers are coming in strong here. I hope I can make my decision soon, because I know the next few months are going to fly by. But as long as I’m still in the thick of deciding, I can keep putting off all the preparations for moving. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself!

Waitlisted! March 13, 2009

as someone on the P&W Speakeasy just told me, Welcome to Limbo!

I received an email this afternoon telling me I’m on a short waitlist for the MFA poetry program at University of Arkansas! They are accepting only 5 people this year.

woooweeewooowweee….!

initial thoughts:

• I’d put Arkansas on par with UNC Greensboro for great faculty, alumni, and overall reputation.
• Getting a very nice, personal email from their director is much appreciated. (And I have yet to hear from the director or any faculty at Texas State. More on that later…)
• Hmm…funding? (always a question)
• Do I want to be in school for 3-4 years? Arkansas is known for keeping their writers in Fayetteville for a long time.
• Where the heck is Fayetteville?
• Should I visit?

Ok, the rest of my afternoon will be spent on Craigslist and Google Maps…

The Tally March 12, 2009

UNC Greensboro – accepted, funding TBA

Texas State – accepted, funding TBA

UT Austin Michener MFA - rejected

UT Austin MA – rejected

Montana – rejected

Minnesota – rejected

Alabama – rejected

Arkansas – waitlisted

Arizona – rejected

Arizona State – waitlisted

Vanderbilt – rejected

*updated 4/7/09

Q & A March 4, 2009

someone on the Poets & Writers speakeasy message forum put out a questionaire for MFA applicants with acceptance offers. I bit the bait, and here are my answers reposted here:

 

what genre are you ? poetry

which schools were you accepted to? This is my second year applying so I’ll break it up that way.

This year: I’ve been accepted to UNC Greensboro & Texas State. I’m still waiting to hear about funding, and I have 6 other programs that haven’t notified me yet. I have 2 rejections so far.

Last year: Accepted without funding to VCU, Sarah Lawrence, & UM-St. Louis, then waitlisted at UNCG. (& rejected from 6 other programs.)

how long have you been workshopping/writing seriously? I started writing workshops in undergrad. I minored in creative writing and therefore had workshops for at least 5 semesters. I took a break from workshops and poetry for about 3 years out of school, but I also worked as a newspaper writer then. I picked up poetry seriously again about a year before I applied to MFAs the first time. After turning down MFA offers last spring, I found two local writing workshops. One was a small group and the other a much larger group. Both were cross-genre workshops and had very few poets involved. In fact, most of the time, I was the only one writing poetry and the rest were fiction writers. But they definitely helped me polish my poetry.

Are you published? yes, I’ve had poems published by a few print and online journals. Most of them are local, but a couple are more well known.

What did you do to prepare your pieces for your applications? This time around, I had more people read through my portfolio and had them help me decide what I should include in my writing sample. I found this a major help, because my friends were better judges of my best work, and helped me shape a writing sample that demonstrated a consistent voice. Also, I should note that 90% of the poems I put in this year’s writing sample were stuff I’ve worked on in the past 9-16 months. Only one poem was written in undergrad.

Were you an active part of the writers’ networking communities/did you meet influential people at the schools before the apps? I already knew the UNCG people from being on the waitlist last year, and had gone up to visit them then. (But I didn’t know anyone there before I was on the waitlist.) They deferred my application and told me to send them a new writing sample and another letter of recommendation this time around. I reached out to a professor at my university who had graduated from UNCG’s MFA and asked her to meet with me, in hopes that she could help me with this. I hadn’t had her for any classes when I was an undergrad, nor had we conversed outside of school, but she knew who I was when I contacted her and she was willing to look over my work. After going over my poetry, she offered to write me a letter of recommendation for UNCG, and then for all the schools I applied to this year. I’m sure getting to know her helped me as a writer – I certainly used her critique in my writing sample. But I wouldn’t say that she’s why I got accepted to UNCG, or any program. I was told by UNCG that my acceptance was based on the quality of my writing sample. (I haven’t talked to Texas State yet to know what won my acceptance over there.)

and for those who are waiting, it should be known that I didn’t receive my first acceptance last year until mid-March. hang in there!

March brings good news March 2, 2009

I found out today, via the online application status check, that I’m in at Texas State!! I hope there’s a letter in my mailbox at home to seal the deal. Then I’ll have to get some questions answered about funding and other details before deciding if I’ll plan a trip down to San Marcos.

This good news comes after two rejections in the past 4 days – UT Austin’s Michener Program & University of Minnesota.

Oh, and in other news, we have snow in the piedmont of North Carolina! Awesome, but also kind of crazy. It was 68 degrees here last week! If the power’s not out later tonight, I’ll try to do some more blogging, because obviously, my mind is full of questions and concerns and fantastical thoughts about my future. Thanks to all y’all who’ve been posting comments and sending me messages of encouragement. I plan on answering some questions for future MFA applicants soon, as well.